by Deja King
"I can't tell."
"It's true. Do you think it was by accident that I went back to Brooklyn looking for you? That one older hustling cat I used to fuck with while I was dealing with Clip always spoke highly of you. He would preach to me that it was damn near impossible to find a loyal nigga, and that's why he made sure he always took care of you, so when I heard from one of my homegirls in BK that dude had got killed, I wanted to put you on."
"I feel you on that."
"I know how hard it is to maintain on them streets, plus you had family to take care of. I wanted to look out for you the way you looked out for him. But this the big leagues. When I recruited you I felt I made that clear. Mike is my brother and I love him. I'm grateful that you put me on to your man and we were able to get Mike out. I'm grateful for all the loyalty you've shown me and I plan on not only telling you but showing you too," I said, licking my lips seductively.
"I was under the impression you only had eyes for Supreme."
"Yeah, Supreme got all the coins and I need that to not only take care of me and my brother, but to also keep your pockets fat. But that don't mean a sexy nigga like you don't get my pussy wet. You feel me?" I was lying my ass off, but I needed this cat to do some serious dirty work for me. Supreme represented much more than an endless cash flow. I had been dying to suck his dick since I first saw him in a music video before I had even hit adolescence. Becoming his wife would give me bragging rights 'til the day I died.
"I fo' sho' feel you, Maya. You got my third leg excited over here. So when you plan on showing me how grateful you are?"
"Business first, and then pleasure."
"I guess that means we need to handle this Detective Moore problem as soon as possible."
"Now we're on the same page. But, umm, while you're mulling over when, where and how you're going to eliminate the detective, take me to the post office. I have a letter that needs to be mailed out."
When we pulled up to the post office I took out my book of stamps and peeled one off. I scanned the envelope again before placing it firmly on the upper righthand corner. I dropped it in the mailbox, and a surge of newfound power shot through me. "Okay Devon, let's go home."
"Devon, remember, don't discuss our plans for Detective Moore with anyone. Tomorrow at twelve o'clock I'll meet you at our spot so we can graph this shit out, so don't be late. I know you're working the three o'clock shift so promptness is a must."
"I got you. I'll be there."
"Good, now open the door for me. Our relationship has to appear strictly professional. You never know who's watching," I said, looking towards the front entrance of the house from the parked car.
"Whatever you say."
"While you're at it, carry in these bags for me," I directed as I took Aaliyah out of her car seat and headed inside. When I entered, Supreme was still in the same location as before I left. But instead of standing, he was slouched down in a chair with a drink in his hand.
"Where do you want me to put your bags?" Devon asked, interrupting my stare down of Supreme. Supreme lifted his eyes in my direction as if he only then realized we had come home.
"You can leave them right there," I said, pointing to the bottom of the wraparound stairs.
Devon put the bags down and then tried to linger his tired ass at the spot to further inspect what was about to go down between me and his boss.
"Thanks, Devon, you can go now." My stiff smile screamed get to steppin'!
Devon got the hint and nodded his head. "Mr. Mills, can I be of any further assistance to you this evening?"
Supreme appeared dazed for a minute and then he silently shook his head no. But that nigga wasn't dazed, he was drunk.
I was ready to push Devon's slow dragging ass out the fucking door. He was holding up my flow. He took his time getting the fuck out and kept glaring back after each step. When he finally bounced I virtually skipped to the door and locked it, making sure he couldn't make a sudden return. I didn't say shit to Supreme. I let him continue to drown his sorrow in that thousand dollar a shot Remy Martin and grabbed my bags and headed upstairs to Aaliyah's bedroom.
"Now, I need for you to be a good little baby and play in your crib until you fall asleep," I uttered to Aaliyah as I took off her clothes and put on her nightie. "I have to go work on your daddy, and I don't need no interruptions, so I'll see you in the morning." I kissed Aaliyah on her forehead, sat her in the crib, turned on the nightlight and made my exit.
As I dashed down the hallway, I made a pit stop at a mirror hanging in the center of the wall. I scrutinized myself and my appearance was definitely not on point. I had a long day and it showed. I wanted to take a shower and freshen up but didn't want to lose any momentum toying with Supreme. I hoped that although I was in semiform, his drunken eyes would see dime piece. I took my chances continuing my dash downstairs and opening a few buttons on my blouse, along the way.
"Is everything okay Supreme?" I asked softly, watching him pour himself another drink.
"As good as shit can get for a nigga when your wife been ghost for a couple of weeks and your daughter ain't got her mother," Supreme slurred.
"I know it's tough, but you have to be strong for Aaliyah."
"Yeah, but who gon' be strong for me?" he asked, plopping down on the couch spilling some of his drink.
"I will. I'll help you through this." I sat down beside him and rested my hand on his thigh without being too aggressive.
"Well then help me understand why my wife has been keeping in contact with the motherfucker that tried to kill her."
"You mean Nico."
"Motherfuckin' right I mean Nico!" he roared before greedily gulping down his drink in one hit.
"I think that's something you should discuss with Precious."
"I would if I could find her. Man, I shoulda had that nigga killed when I had the chance," Supreme babbled, caught up in his own world. "I ain't neva told Precious that I know this shit, but she fucked that nigga during the time she thought I was dead."
"How do you know that?" My ears perked up waiting as Supreme was revealing some new info that I knew absolutely nothing about.
"Man, towards the end of their investigation on Mike, the feds had a wiretap on Precious' cell. They wanted to see if he would make any incriminating statements to her over the phone so their case could be even stronger. I didn't find out until months later after they reviewed all the recordings what had went down between her and Nico."
"Who told you?"
"One of the agents I had got extra cool with when they had me in protective custody felt I had the right to know. He heard a few of the conversations between Precious and Nico and it was evident them motherfuckers shared a goodbye fuck. I promised I would never say shit because he could lose his job behind that bullshit."
"And you never confronted Precious about it?"
"When I found out I wanted to beat the shit out of her, but she was pregnant and of course I couldn't hurt our baby..." the word "baby" faded out from Supreme's mouth. "To this day Precious is clueless about that shit, and you need to stop frontin' like you didn't know what had went down."
"I swear I didn't, Supreme."
"That's supposed to be yo' girl and she ain't neva told you about it...but then again Precious is the secretive type. She don't trust nobody."
"I guess you're right because I damn sure didn't know. I feel bad that you've been carrying this around for so long. It's gotta be painful."
"It was. The only thing that made it a little easier to cope with was that when it happened, she did believe I was dead. Sometimes people turn to a familiar face for comfort when they hurtin'. Fuck, I don't know, because how can you go back and fuck a man that put a bullet through your chest? It makes me wonder if their connection is that strong," Supreme said, trying to stand up but quickly losing his balance and having to sit right back down.
"Supreme, I think you've had too much to drink." I leaned over brushing my breast against his chest as I took the gla
ss from his hand.
"I'm straight. But I do need to go to bed. Dealing with that detective telling me that the last person my missing wife spoke to was a nigga I detest just as much as Pretty Boy Mike completely exhausted me."
"Let me take care of you. I'll put you to bed," I said, gently stroking the side of Supreme's face and rubbed my fingers through his low haircut. I got up and walked over to the bar and put down the glass and came back to the couch feinding to finish my seduction on Supreme, but his eyelids were closed shut and he was knocked out.
"Supreme, wake up...wake up!" I started shaking him but Supreme was out cold. Damn, my fuckin' luck! I was this close to riding that nigga's dick like a stallion and he want to pass out in a drunken stupor. I was so pissed I didn't even get him a blanket. I left his ass right there on the couch and I went upstairs to bed.
I was awakened early the next morning by the wet Pamper and I'm hungry screams of Aaliyah. I put the pillow over my head determined to kill the sounds echoing through the mansion. "Damn, babies are loud as hell," was all I could keep saying. That shit remained persistent for the next ten minutes.
"Anna, go get Aaliyah!" I screamed out, but then became conscious of the fact that Anna had died like a week ago. That was the first time I slightly regretted taking her nosey ass out. "Fuck!" I belted. I was used to Supreme caring after Aaliyah in the morning but he was probably still laid out on the couch from drinking himself to sleep.
I finally found the strength to drag myself out of bed, madder than a motherfucker. When I got to Aaliyah's room her nose was running, snot coming out from crying so damn hard. and babbling "Daddy" and "baba" for a bottle. She was pulling at her nightie, and when I got closer I saw it was soaking wet. Her urine-drenched Pamper was halfway off and it had saturated her nightgown.
This shit is for the fuckin' birds! This is what you have to go through as a mother. Getting no damn sleep, changing dirty Pampers, feeding a motherfucker and having to jump every time they start wailing. I don't know how much more of this shit I can take, especially since I ain't getting no dick!
I kept praying that at any moment Supreme would stride up in here and tell me he would handle this and I could go back to bed. But as the time slowly passed he was still a no show. It took almost thirty minutes for me to get Aaliyah cleaned up, take off the dirty sheets and tidy shit up.
With Aaliyah locked on my hip we took it downstairs so I could feed her. By this point I was tired of her sucking on her pacifier as if breast milk was spilling out. When we passed the living room Supreme was exactly like I left him and all I could do was roll my eyes, while Aaliyah started reaching out and once again calling out for her daddy. Not once did she call for her mommy so that let me know that she didn't have me confused with her mother. I didn't know whether to be mad or happy.
By the time we reached the kitchen, Aaliyah threw her pacifier on the floor and pointed towards the HDTV SubZero refrigerator freezer. "Can't nobody ever say that you ain't got your mother's temper," I commented, grabbing a bottle from the fridge.
Aaliyah seemed to be ignoring me as she clapped her hands at the LCD TV DVD hookup with radio. I couldn't believe how far technology had come and what money could buy you. Who would've guessed that a piece of appliance that at one time was strictly to keep your food cold now included a top-of-the-line entertainment center.
"Yeah, I could most def get used to this style of living." While I warmed up the bottle and began daydreaming of my life as the rich and fabulous, I heard the doorbell ringing. I glanced at the clock on the microwave and it was barely after nine o'clock.
"Who the fuck could this be?" I said, picking up the bottle with Aaliyah in tow. She yanked that bottle out my hand and latched onto the nibble as if starving. "What in the hell is he doing here?" I huffed, looking out the peephole.
"Good morning, Maya," Detective Moore greeted me as if we were friends. "What an adorable little girl," he said, doing some silly ass shit with his fingers towards Aaliyah. "I see you're making yourself right at home, Maya. I wonder what you'll do when the Mrs. comes back."
"What do you want, Detective Moore?" I ignored his slick underhanded comment because again I knew he was trying to get a rise out of me.
"I came to speak with Mr. Mills. I have some new developments that I wanted to share with him."
"Supreme is sleep."
"I thought a successful businessman like himself would be up by now."
"He had a rough night. But you're more than welcome to tell me what your new developments are and I'll be happy to pass it along when he wakes up."
"No, I rather talk to Mr. Mills personally. I'll stop by later on either this afternoon or evening."
"Which one is it, afternoon or evening?"
"I don't know," he said, in a self-satisfied tone. I was now a hundred percent sure that this pompous sonofabitch was fucking with me. "I guess you'll know the answer to that when I pop back up."
"Suit yourself," I said, shutting the door in his face. I stood in the entry and then leaned my back against the wall. I had to bring an end to whatever the pesky detective was conjuring up once and for all.
"You're late!" were the first words that left Devon's lips when I sat down at the table in the quaint restaurant on Robertson Boulevard.
"I know this, but it took forever for Supreme to wake up and I wasn't about to bring Aaliyah with me."
"Wake up...what had him in such a deep sleep. . .did you and him?"
"No. Your boss was too drunk to do anything or anybody. He passed out on the couch and didn't wake up until after eleven. It was torture trying to take a shower and get dressed with a baby up under me. Now I understand why every rich bitch has a fuckin' nanny. Boy, chicks in the `hood would appreciate that shit. I think it's time for Supreme to start taking applications to fill Anna's position."
"Do you think that's wise with all the shit we have jumping off right now? I mean I would hate for another nanny to end up at the bottom of the stairs because they started asking one too many questions."
"You have a valid point, but damn, I don't know how much longer I can play this mother role."
"If you plan on being Mrs. Supreme Mills you better get used to it fast. That baby comes with the package."
"You don't have to remind me. I'm well aware of that fact. But enough about babies and shit. We need to address what this meeting is really about. Man, I've had enough of our little friend. Do you know he showed up at the crib this morning?"
"For what?"
"My take, he's fuckin' wit' me. But he claims he has some new information to share with Supreme and that still spells fuckin' wit' me."
"Did he say what the new information was?"
"I asked, but of course his answer was that he wanted to personally speak with Supreme. Thank goodness Supreme was sleep because in a perfect world the detective will never get the opportunity to say another word to him."
"I take it you want to move on this immediately?"
"Is `like yesterday' soon enough?"
"I came up with a scenario that should work." Devon moved in closer and put his elbows on the center of the square wooden table. "I did some research with a few of my sources."
"Oh fuck! I told your stupid ass not to tell anybody what we were up to."
"Yo, calm down," Devon whispered, pulling my upper body towards him. "I didn't tell nobody shit. I have ways of getting information without arousing suspicion."
"You better," I warned.
"Listen, I'm putting my livelihood on the line. Do you really think I'ma do or say something to put me in jeopardy?"
"I feel you...go head, finish what you were saying."
"Well, I got our little friend's address, and I'm thinking a home invasion gone wrong would be the best look. Anything else will make it appear as if he was a target. But attempted robbery ... shit, with the economy being so fucked up they running up in cribs first and taking names later."
I sat back taking in what Devon said. An attempted home in
vasion might be the strategy to run with. That would lead the investigation towards robbery instead of who might have a grudge against the relentless detective. Anything else probably would have officers prying into his open cases and leading them in my face for a million and one questions. "I think it could work. So are you going to actually go in his crib or what?"
Devon pulled me back in and I wanted to puke because dude's breath smelled real tart. I wanted to give him a Tic Tac, Big Red or something but figured we had to take one thing at a time, and wiping out the detective was top priority.
"I'm looking to get him right outside his front door. On the low, I scoped out his house. He lives off a main street so that's a good thing because mad cars be coming through. He also has a lot of high bushes surrounding the entrance. I figure I can sneak up behind him and put a bullet through the back of his head and be out."
"I like the sound of that, Devon. So when is all this going down?"
"I'm leaning towards tonight. Detectives normally work late shifts so I was gonna head over there after I got off of work, but if I'm too late then tomorrow night. I'm off tomorrow so I'll have time to chill in the cut and wait him out."
`Damn, that means he'll have time to speak with Supreme today "
"Maya, you can't expect for me to do him in broad daylight. It's gotta be at night. Keep Supreme busy. Get him out the house so the detective can't talk to him. You're resourceful. I'm sure you can come up with something to keep Supreme occupied."
'Yeah, I'll suggest we take Aaliyah out for some ice cream or some child friendly bullshit. Try your hardest to make it happen tonight though. I don't think I can keep him away from Supreme for two days in a row. He's pretty fuckin' persistent, which is why he has to go."
"Then tonight it is. When you wake up tomorrow the detective will no longer be our problem, and then of course we'll have some celebrating to do."
"No doubt. I'm looking forward to it."
"Me too. A conniving bitch like you got to have some good pussy and I can't wait to be all up in it."
